Welcome to the Stampin' Friends Blog Hop! This month's theme is in preparation of next month-- Easter! If you’re following along the hop, you’ve arrived from Raquelle’s blog. ​Don’t forget to keep hopping along to Barbara's blog at the bottom.

This month we have two guest blog hoppers. Make sure to check them out too!​
Mandy Reedyk
Sue Vine

​So, I got inspired with my Paper Pumpkin box this past month-- the Many Happy Birthday's box that included nine cute slider birthday candle cards. These cards are super cute by themselves and I love the long envelopes that come with them and the glimmer paper flames but I started thinking about other uses-- like a Hanukkah card! So I stamped one with "Celebrate" and will set it aside for a dear friend in Charleston who celebrates Hanukkah! (Please excuse the poor lighting in these photos, but that's what happens when I don't plan ahead and take the pictures on a sunny day!)

​What other things could I come up with? Well the patterned paper screamed Easter eggs with the stripes, dashes, and polka dots! So I made a quick and simple card with "Celebrate" so that it could work for a birthday or Easter. I used the Confetti Embossing folder and those super cute Stitched Shapes Framelit dies! (Have I mentioned that I love that you get squares, circles, and ovals in one set? What a terrific value!)

​​Then I went crazy and started creating several treat packages! This first one features something I found in the dollar bin at Target (of course)! These bubbles came in a three pack $1 and really coordinated cutely with the patterned paper from the set! The dimensions on this treat holder are 2 3/4" by 11" Dapper Denim cardstock, scored at 1/2", 3", 5", and 7 1/2".

I also thought that I could make a cool little bag from two of the cards so I turned them upside down and scored them for the base at 2 inches and glued them together with a bit of trimming. I punched out three eggs with the oval punch from the Flirty Flamingo paper and punched holes in the tabs to then thread some Dapper Denim ruched ribbon through it. I even used the Paper Pumpkin blue tissue paper to stuff the bag! (The Happy Easter stamp is from the Circle of Spring stamp set!)

Here is the whole cute set! I really loved this Paper Pumpkin because it gave me lots of room to be creative!

So, who's hopping this month? Quite a few accomplished crafters! See the full line up below (I am #10), plus scroll down to the bottom to see a giveaway I am doing.

​Thank you for hopping with us! If don't subscribe to Paper Pumpkin you can join now and still get the past kit. That is one of the great perks of Paper Pumpkin- only subscribers can get past kits! Plus, if you subscribe now you can get the cool April kit designed by our CEO! It will include a special gift.. And I always send my subscribers a monthly add-on project and a welcome gift.

Here is what I love about Paper Pumpkin:

The convenience of an all-inclusive kit arriving at your door every month.

Exclusive photopolymer stamp sets and the opportunity to build a collection of stamps and ink spots.

Crafting time you can count on without any prep work.

Trying new techniques.

Getting together with friends to craft every month (I even do it with my 8 year old daughter!)

The quality of the products and variety of projects each month.

Sharing ideas with a community of online crafters.

The surprise factor!

If you comment below I will select a winner to be sent a special little treat in the mail. And keep coming back to the blog-- I still need to show you Marianne's birthday party treat boxes!

Happy crafting,
​Melissa

P.S. We still have a few openings at our April Craft Retreat-- scroll down a few blog posts and check it out! It promises to be a terrific weekend~

With rain and ice moving in again I am still optimistic that spring is coming soon and even if it isn't these creations should cheer you up!

First up, a card made with the Hello Life stamp set, Painted Petal DSP, Spiral Border Punch, and some glimmer!!! I love Blackberry Bliss ink and was happy it brought some depth to this pretty clean project!

Next up is more Painted Petals-- Borg the stamp set and paper!! It's a bit of a challenge to get the leaves and flowers to line up but well worth it! I recommend stamping off once of the Strawberry Slush because my ink pad was too juicy!! The other color is Wild Wasabi!

Now on to Easter!! It's a few weeks away but we had fun making these projects and eating lots of candy!! The Berry Basket die couldn't be easier and the little coffee cup we just stamped and then colored in the flowers! The stamp set and matching framelits is From the Garden-- cute huh?

This cute bunny is called Happy Easter Bunny and it was fun to color him in and mount him on the FREE Sale-a-bration paper!!

This box holds a cute carrot chocolate from World Market-- made out of our small gift boxes!! Just use the tag topper punch on the lid and then line that piece with a DSP piece! Then wrap with a 9x2 strip of DSP!

My final card is the Happy Easter Bunny again but I added a bow from the gift bow punch!!!! So cute!

I hope these inspire you and bring a little sunshine to your neck of the woods!